


Little Tree Sapling

by MeepMorpRain



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Curiosity, Family, Father/son relationships, Feelings, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, Love, More Tags Will Come After More Chapters Are Done, Platonic Relationships, Self-Discovery, a bit funny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 07:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12075999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeepMorpRain/pseuds/MeepMorpRain
Summary: Ever since the War Over Xandar, the old Groot has died and a new Groot has sprouted into existence. He doesn't have the same memories and doesn't exactly have the same personality as the old Groot.This new Groot grows and adapts to this new family full of a-holes. He discovers the wonders of the universe, different emotions, different people, and making his place in the galaxy.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Yikes, so this is my first here, I still don't know how things work. Bear with me, please! Enjoy the story :)

A white nothingness was shown to the eyes of a new being. In this white nothingness was a tree with cherry blossoms flowering down from the leaves. A tiny patch of green grass was beneath this tree. The new being walked towards this suspicious tree. _How can such a beautiful tree grow such in an empty place?_

The new being saw a strange hooded figure sitting near it, his hood covered about two-thirds of his face, only showing his mouth. His chin looked rough and was the color brown. The rest of his body was covered by his black cloak. "They are waiting for you to wake up." He said, without even giving a glance to the new being. "It's time for you to create your journey into a new place. Are you ready to see what's ahead?"

The new being didn't understand.

"The galaxy is such a wide place. It's full of planets, plant life, animals, people, different technology, dimensions, powerful stones, colors, stars, moons, and much more. There's so much to discover. Take the time to see it all." The hooded figure's voice was deep and booming, yet it had a sudden calmness to it. "You'll meet new people and make so many friends...you'll deal with so many new feelings that you don't even know the name of it...Are you ready to discover many wonders?"

The new being was still confused. What was happening?

A butterfly flew in from nowhere and landed on the hooded figure's finger. The butterfly had beautiful shiny, sparkly, golden wings. You could never take your eyes off of it. "This butterfly may look like the most alluring insect, but look into it." The hooded figure waved his arm above the butterfly, revealing an ugly disaster of colors: brown, red, orange, blue, with a hint of gray and black. "Some people seem like they're doing fine, but inside, they are in grave pain. They hide it with a strong barrier that's nearly impossible to break through. Are you ready to see within?"

The new being stared blankly at the hooded figure.

"I want you to learn, discover, and befriend many different beings in this universe of wonders. Time is a valuable thing, don't take every day for granted, events happen at random times."

Water appeared under the two. It was warm and...salty? The hooded figure stood up, "It's time, he's waiting. He's been waiting for a while now."

The new being was still lost. Who was **he**?

Everything was starting to fade. The hooded figure put the beautiful-to-ugly butterfly inside of the new being. He was starting to fade, but he whispered one last thing to the new beings ear, "Take care of him and enjoy your new family..."

It was all black, the new being started to hear new sounds. _What had just happened?_


	2. Birth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Groot is born into a new world, where he meets the wonders of space. But who are these people around him?

Groot's eyes opened, a little yawn came out too. He saw a glass window and out that window was a city with little lines moving around. Funny. He was in a pot, it was white. The soil felt pretty nice. In the distance, Groot heard voices, "...ain't no mountain high enough...ain't no valley low enough...ain't no river wide enough from keeping me from getting to you, baby." It was strange.

Groot heard another voice. A male voice. "What should we do next?" The male voice asked. "Something good? Something bad? A bit of both?"

Another voice spoke, this time sounding a bit more feminine. "We'll follow your lead, Star-Lord." A little pause took place and the male voice spoke again, sounding happy, "A bit of both!"

A little pause took place and the male voice spoke again, sounding happy, "A bit of both!"

The ground underneath Groot started to rumble, the city moved away from the window and only the sky was seen. But the sky also moved down until they saw a black place with a bunch of white dots speckled all over. Soon enough, colors of pink, purple, green, yellow, green, and orange were seen in some parts of the black sky. The wonders of this multi-colored, black, white-speckled place were absolutely beautiful.

Groot’s examination of the wondrous sky was disrupted as someone lifted up his pot. Groot caught sight of the hands that lifted him, they were tiny hands with claws at the end of the fingertips. “He grew…” A voice whispered. “He’s back!” The tiny, clawed hands turned Groot’s pot around. There he saw a furry face. His eyes were the color red and he had a black, wet nose. His fur was brown except for his eyebrows, which was white, and the black fur around his eyes. “Groot!” More voices were heard, other people were forming around the tiny plant in the pot. There was a green female, she had black hair with accents of pink in it. There was a bald grayish-greenish man with some red things around his eyes. The last person was another male who had dark blond hair, his skin was

“Groot!” More voices were heard, other people were forming around the tiny plant in the pot. There was a green female, she had black hair with accents of pink in it. There was a bald grayish-greenish man with some red things around his eyes. The last person was another male who had dark blond hair, his skin was a very very light tan. They all had smiles on them, except for the grayish-greenish bald guy with the red stuff around his eyes. The furry creature with the brown fur had little tears forming in his eyes, they grew bigger as the seconds passed by.

Who were these people, and why were they so excited to see him?

Groot didn't understand, but he figured that they loved him very much. Maybe they're his family, they all just look different. 

"I'm putting the Milano on auto-pilot. Let's go to the meeting room." the dark-blond haired person said.

The furry creature had Groot in his arms and he started to walk down a set of stairs near the seat that the furry creature was sitting in. He set the pot down on a table. Groot examined the area around him. There was a blue and gray vibe with a little bit of red vibe going on. A little bit dark, though, hard to see.

"Can he speak?" the dark-blond haired person asked.

"I...I don't know..." the furry creature responded back.

Speaking? How do you speak? Does a voice just come out of your mouth easily? Groot tried to open his mouth. Nothing came out.

The people in front of him sighed. "I guess not." the green person said. She put her hand on the furry creature's head. "Maybe soon enough. Usually, babies are incapable of speaking when they're just born. Don't worry too much about it,  **Rocket**."

Rocket? Who's Rocket?

The dark-blond haired person spoke again, "I'm gonna go back up to the cockpit." He turned to the green girl and the bald guy. "Let's give the two some room." He winked at the furry creature.

The three tall people went back up the stairs. Groot was left with the furry creature. Those tears in his eyes became so big that it fell from his eyes and he hugged the pot. Small crying noises came out from the furry creature.

"I thought you were gone forever..." he said. He lifted his head and wiped his tears. The furry creature chuckled, "You're a plant! Of course you could regrow yourself! I'm a stupid idiot! Haha!" Tears were still coming out from his eyes. Groot was confused. Who? Is? This? Creature? The furry creature's sad-happy emotion went away when he looked at Groot's face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

_I don't know who you are._

"Maybe...you're still in shock? I know I am..."

_I don't know who you are._

The furry creature looked at Groot, his expression was filled with worry and fear. "Groot...do you...remember me?" he asked very slowly.

Groot's confused expression was still there.

The furry creature's eyes got big, more water was coming up from his eyes. His breathing started to get faster. "G-Groot..." Tears were falling down. "You're joking...right? Right?!" His tone got louder. More tears were falling, his fur under his eyes started to get wet.

Yet, Groot still had the same expression on.

"Groot...answer me."

Groot shook his head  ** _no_**.

The furry creature froze in shock. The tears formed a waterfall. He stepped away from Groot and ran his clawed hands over his face. "He's really gone...isn't he?" He fell to the floor. "I killed him...I was so stupid...it's all my fault..." The furry creature kept talking to himself. Groot felt bad inside, did he make him cry? Groot wanted to touch his fur, but his arms could only reach a certain limit. 

The dark-blonded person came down the stairs. "Rocket, are you okay?"

The furry creature stood up and disappeared to somewhere else. Groot tried to reach out to him, what did he do wrong?

The dark-blond hair person scratched the back of his head. "Yikes...what happened?" He turned his head towards Groot, probably waiting for a response. Then he made a realization, "Oh, right, forgot."

The green person came down the stairs. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

"I don't know. I think Rocket ran to his room."

The green person turned to Groot also and caught sight of the worried expression he was making. "I think something happened between the two." She came closer to Groot. "Do you know who we are?"

Groot shook his head. The dark-blond person's eyes became wide. "Oh man..." he said.

The bald grayish man with the red stuff all over his body came down the stairs. "Did something happen?" he asked.

"Groot lost his memories." The green person responded.

"Where's Rocket?"

"I think he went to his room." The dark-blond person said.

"Shall we go comfort him?"

"No, leave him alone. He needs some space."

Something fluttered inside of Groot.  _No, he needs our help, he needs to know that he's not alone! Someone go after him, he's not doing so well! He needs us!_  Where were these thoughts coming from? Something inside of Groot had a dire need to go to the furry creature, the inside of him went crazy - like something was actually in his body. Maybe he was just very hungry.

The three people in front of him sighed. The green lady looked at Groot and formed a smile, she turned back to the two other males. "Well, we should properly introduce ourselves to Groot then." She walked towards him. "I am Gamora."

_Gamora._

The dark-blond person smiled and made a small wave at him. "My name's Peter Quill, but you can also call me Starlord!" 

_Starlord._

The bald man with the red stuff on his body pushed Peter away from Groot. "I am Drax the Destroyer! Strongest being in the galaxy!"

 _Drax_ _._

"False, I'm the strongest in the galaxy. Everyone knows that." Gamora shot back.

"You may be true, but you are called 'The Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy', I am the strongest man in the Galaxy!" Drax responded. Gamora rolled her eyes.

"Well, since you all have titles, then I'm called 'The Most Attractive Being in the Galaxy.'" Starlord added.

"Quill, I think you are the biggest idiot in the galaxy," Drax said.

"If anyone's the idiot, it's you, Mr-I-Can't-Understand-Metaphors," Starlord said with a smirk.

This conversation was making Groot feel joy. He was smiling. But in the back of his mind, he was worried about the furry creature. Is he gonna be okay? Something was still fluttering inside of him.

But for now, he wanted to take in this moment of joy. He liked these people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> water is wet and so is Rocket's face


	3. Raccoons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Groot goes through his second day of being born. The furry creature finally introduces himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The writing is sort of kiddish because this phase of Groot is an infant. Just a heads up!  
> Also, Groot refers to Peter as Starlord because that's what he thinks his name is.

Although nobody could tell, the time was night time. Starlord, Gamora, and Drax were in their sleeping quarters, resting to prepare for the next day. Groot was left on the table. It was dark, he was alone, and a little scared. What if something happened to him and nobody knew? He wished he could tell the three that he didn't want to be by himself, but Groot didn't know how to make a sound come out. He tried with all of his might. 

"Ahh...Aii...Ehh..." Nothing but baby sounds. He wanted to get out of his pot, but his roots haven't developed into walking legs yet. Some sunlight would help his fear, but the black sky made it so dark. Yes, those cool blue neon lights were turned on, but they weren't bright enough. Can someone help a little tree?

Suddenly, noises were heard. Groot's fear grew larger, someone was coming. He heard the footsteps. They were going towards him! He wanted to scream in panic, he wanted to run out of his pot sooner and go to either Starlord, Gamora, or Drax. He closed his eyes and used his hands to cover them.

A familiar voice was heard. "Hey, it's just me."

Groot uncovered and opened his eyes, revealing the furry creature in the dim blue light. Groot sighed in relief.

"Sorry if I scared you." The furry creature's tone was soft and low. Groot could still see some wetness under his eyes even though the lights weren't that bright. He has been crying. Groot wanted to say sorry, so instead, he gave the furry creature a little pat on the head. "Thanks," he said in response.

The furry creature pulled a chair over that was close to Groot, he sat on it and relaxed his head in his arms. Groot was still patting his head. Everything was silent, everything felt calm.

"I missed getting these pats from you,"

_Missed?_

"Even if it's tiny, it still feels the same." The furry creature looked at Groot. "Why do you have that- oh right." The furry creature lifted his head up and made a long, sad sigh. "I'm Rocket, remember? Your best pal in the entire galaxy?"

Nothing rang a bell in Groot's mind, but at least he finally got to know his name. Rocket, cool.

Rocket put his head back into his arms. "What's the point. He was shattered by the impact of the fall, his remains were in pieces...probably his memories were also..." He lifted up his head. "I guess you're a new Groot, huh. Like...his...child? I dunno."

Everything went to silence again. A sad aura was arising. Groot could sense it was coming from Rocket. He was talking about someone, but Groot couldn't quite figure out who. This person he was talking about must have passed away or something like that.

Rocket's ear twitched and stood up. "Be right back." He left Groot alone on the table...in the dark. Rocket stopped in his tracks, he went back towards Groot and picked up his pot. "I don't trust you being out here alone in the dark." Wow, exactly Groot's thoughts.

Rocket walked towards another room. The room's floor had all these crazy and wacky thingamabobs. Rocket set Groot's pot down on the floor and he sat right next to him. "Plants need sunlight, you are a plant. There's not enough solar power in this spaceship or in space soooo..." Rocket started to connect one thingamabob with another thingamabob. The thingamabobs started to form another thingamabob until it looked like a functional thingamabob. He did some other stuff to this thingamabob and a light switched on. It was a yellow sunlight, it was warm, relaxing, and bright. Just the way Groot liked it. He smiled.

Rocket smirked. "Glad you enjoy it." Rocket took out a little container with a weird circle thing connected to a tube that connected to the container. "Get ready." He tilted the container-with-a-weird-circle-thing-that-connected-to-a-tube-that-connected-to-the-container on top of him. A liquid started to pour out. It turned out to be water. Water!! Groot stuck his tongue out and lifted his arms up. It felt so nice, he loved this. How come Rocket knew exactly what he needed? He felt happy and safe. "Happy? Good." Rocket put the container-with-a-weird-circle-thing-that-connected-to-a-tube-that-connected-to-the-container down on the gray floor. Groot was a bit sad that Rocket stopped watering him, but he was glad that the sunlight was still on.

Groot felt at ease and pretty tired also. He yawned and closed his eyes. Everything was going to be okay, he was with someone who took care of him well, he was watered, and he had a nice light to bathe under. He quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Everything was white. This place looked familiar, but Groot couldn't quite remember where he saw it last. There was an odd cherry blossom tree on a patch of green grass in this strange white place. Groot went near the randomly placed tree. There was just grass around the tree. Nothing to see here.   

A random wind started to come all of a sudden. It wasn't very strong, but it was strong enough for the tree's branches to wave around. More cherry blossom petals fell down. Groot looked up at the branches and started to mimic their moves. He lifted his arms and waved them around. It was fun.

* * *

Groot opened his eyes. The first thing he spotted was a sleeping animal that was hugging his pot. Groot observed the sleeping animal more and realized that it was Rocket. He was in deep asleep, but his eyebrows made him look worried. His ears were twitching and so was his striped tail. More fluttering was taking place inside of Groot again,  _Wake him up! He's not doing too well! He's getting lost in his dreams! Hurry!_ Where were these thoughts coming from and why is there fluttering in his body again? Rocket made quiet noises, they sounded rough. What was happening to him? Groot patted his head to try to wake him up. Every time he patted the animal, his ears would twitch, he wasn't waking up. This time, Groot patted faster onto Rocket's head very aggressively. His eyes soon opened wide and a loud gasping sound came from him.

"Ah! W-what?" Rocket looked around the room and he took a breath of relief. "Whew, just another stupid dream. Thanks, Groot."

Groot clapped his hands. Rocket made a weak smile at him. Then his expression changed.

"How did you know?"

Groot tilted his head in confusion.

"How did you know about my nightmares? Maybe-maybe your memories are coming back!" Rocket's face came closer to Groot's.

Groot shook his head, he then pointed to Rocket's ears and tail.

"...oh." Rocket's eyes became sad. Did Groot do something wrong again? 

Groot made a worried expression.

"It's nothing. Not your fault..." 

The fluttering in Groot's inside appeared again.  _He's not okay! He needs help!_ What?

Rocket picked up Groot's pot and walked out of the room. "The other three are probably waiting for us."

And yes they were! Groot was excited to see them again. He reached his arms out to them. Starlord grabbed his tiny hands with his finger.

"Hey there, small Groot! Wow, you've grown since the last time we saw you which was...yesterday?" Starlord said.

Gamora touch Starlord's shoulder. "I think his body grows at a fast rate. That's good."

If Groot's body was growing quickly, that means he'll get legs in no time! Hooray! And he'll be able to talk soon! Double hooray! He couldn't wait to finally get out of his pot and explore the world around him. He waved his arms up and down. Starlord giggled and Gamora smiled.

"Well, someone's very excited," Starlord said. He looked at Rocket. "Hey, how are you doing today?"

Rocket faced the other direction, not wanting to look at him. "I'm fine. Splendid. Thanks for asking."

"That sounded sarcastic."

Rocket didn't respond.

"Look, we're always here for you if anything. You can talk to us."

Groot turned around to look at Rocket. He mumbled something, "I don't need your help, I'm perfectly fine..."

The fluttering started again.  _He's not fine!_ Groot slapped his stomach to try to make the fluttering stop. Hitting himself caused the three of them to look at him.

"Groot, what's wrong?" Rocket asked.

Groot pointed at his tummy.

"Hungry?"

Groot shook his head. He pointed at his tummy again. Rocket still didn't understand, neither did Starlord or Gamora. Not being able to talk made everything frustrating. He tried his best to make them know by doing his best hand movements. He pointed at his stomach and then flapped his arms up and down.

"Ooh! I love charades!" Starlord responded in excitement. Good, at least he may be able to understand. Groot did the same motion, he pointed at his stomach, flapping his arms up and down. Starlord tried his best. "You want to fly?" Nope. "You're hungry for flying?" Nu'uh. "Your stomach wants to fly??" Eh, close enough.

"Dummy, he's saying that there's something flapping in his stomach." Rocket said.

"Maybe it's a bug that's bothering him," Gamora added.

"Maybe, but I don't want to rip apart his stomach. He's still too fragile." Rocket responded.

Groot sighed, he was still very young. This fluttering was going to bother him for a very long time. 

"Anyway," interrupted Starlord, "I found a small task for us to do and we're at the place already. It requires stealing some shi- I mean stuff - from somewhere."

Rocket's ear twitched and looked up at him with excitement.

"Buuuut, we have to return the thing we stole to another guy."

Rocket's ear stopped twitching.

"At least we get some units in return, I think 5,000."

Rocket's ears began to twitch again.

Gamora interrupted. "Quill, what about Groot?"

Starlord's eyes widened. "Shit...forgot about that...should he come?"

Rocket shook his head, "He was just born, I...I don't want something happenin' to him...again..."

Stalord nodded back. "Well, we can't leave him on the ship alone, someone has to stay behind. Nosies!" Starlord touched his nose with his finger. Why did he do that? Did he have to sneeze? Gamora and Rocket looked at each other with puzzled looks. Starlord sighed, "It's a thing we do on Earth to decide who does something, the last person to touch their nose has to do the thing."

"Sounds stupid."

"Agreed."

Starlord sighed and put his hand back by his side. "Aliens..." he mumbled.

Drax came into the area where they all were. "Did we land at the place, yet?" he asked.

"Yeah we did, we just can't figure out who's gonna take care of Groot." Starlord's eyes lit up. "Drax, do you want to stay with Groot? You're good with babies, right?"

"Yes, but, I cannot understand him very well. I do not know what plants need or want."

Starlord looked at Gamora. "Gamora?"

"As much as I want to, I don't know how to take care of his kind."

There was only one option left. The three of them looked at Rocket, he sighed. "Sure, I was gonna anyway."

"Then why didn't you say so before??" Starlord questioned.

"I wanted to go...but, Groot comes first. Alright, bye, have fun." Rocket took Groot and the three of them were out of his sight. Groot waved to them as a sign of a goodbye. They came back to the messy room once again. Rocket set him down on the floor, he laid down beside his pot. "Well, back to the two of us, huh. Waiting for something exciting to happen like a new bounty..." Rocket stared at the ceiling and so did Groot. The ceiling was a dark gray color. "We would lay down on a floor for hours because we were so bored. There was a window, it showed the stars.  _He_ liked to look at them all the time, I never knew why. They always looked the same every day. Just a couple of white dots scattered everywhere."

Groot wasn't paying attention to what Rocket was saying, he was somehow fascinated by this ceiling.

" _He_ said that _he_ liked to look at the stars all the time because maybe one day, _he_ wouldn't get to look at them anymore... _he_ loved to look at whatever the galaxy had to offer. It took so long for us to explore from place to place..." Rocket sat up. He stayed silent for a while and looked at Groot. "I wonder if you're the same, you do certainly take in interest in the ceiling." Groot kept looking up. The ceiling had no significance to it, Groot just liked to look at it. He saw stars, many stars, there was a mixture of reds, pinks, blues, and purples. A shooting star flew across.

Groot kept looking up. The ceiling had no significance to it, Groot just liked to look at it. He saw stars, many stars, there was a mixture of reds, pinks, blues, and purples. A shooting star flew across. Groot pointed at it.

Rocket smirked. "You Flora Colossuses sure are strange." He poked Groot's forehead and Groot snapped out of his imagination. He grabbed Rocket's finger and examined it. His nails were long and sharp, like claws. Groot then took Rocket's whole hand and looked at it, a brown paw with some cuts here and there. He compared his hand to the raccoon. A tiny piece of wood compared to an animal's. "What are you doing?" asked Rocket. Groot grabbed his nose and kissed it. Rocket's eyes went wide and he pulled away from Groot. "Why'd you do that?" Rocket's breathing got faster, he looked scared. Did Groot do something wrong? Did Groot accidentally hurt him? Groot looked down at the floor feeling guilt, he almost started to cry. Rocket went closer to Groot, "No-no-no, it's...it's not your fault! It's just...that...I..." Rocket took a deep breath. "You did nothing wrong." Groot looked at Rocket with sad eyes. Rocket sighed, "How about you go under your sunlight and take a nap? I'll give you some food and water too."

Rocket turned on Groot's sunlight lamp and gave him some food to eat. He then sprinkled water onto the small tree. Groot liked the water. He closed his eyes again and fell into a deep slumber.


	4. Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dancing (verb):  
> 1\. to move one's feet or body, or both, rhythmically in a pattern of steps, especially to the accompaniment of music.  
> 2\. to leap, skip, etc., as from excitement or emotion; move nimbly or quickly
> 
> Dancing (noun):  
> 1\. a successive group of rhythmical steps or bodily motions, or both, usually executed to music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4: Dancing (aka The Post Credit Scene in the First Movie)

White area, a patch of green grass, and a cherry blossom tree. Groot felt like he's been in this place before, he couldn't quite remember. There was something about flowers, waving arms, and something else, it was black. The place was quiet, no petals from the cherry blossoms were falling. Everything felt still. Groot walked closer to the strange tree. As the creature walked, an orange glowing spot was formed in the center of the bark of the tree. It was fading in and out, it was circle shaped. Groot touched it, the spot was warm and it made you feel at ease. A smile immediately appeared on Groot's face, he felt happy, safe, calm. He could touch this spot forever.

The ground started to rumble, the whiteness of the area was crumbling, revealing a black hole. Cherry blossom petals started to fly away in a rapid motion. The orange spot disappeared, the flowers were gone, the patch of green grass was disappearing. Everything was being sucked into the blackness, Groot panicked and held on the tree. The force of the black hole was so strong, it was pulling him away from the cherry blossom tree. He started to cry.  _Don't take me in! Don't take me in!_ His hands let go of the trunk, the tree started going farther away from him, blackness was appearing.

Then everything became dark. A place full of nothing. An empty void.

* * *

Groot woke up and gasped, he started to cry. It was scary! He was soon touched by someone with hairy arms.

"Hey, it's alright, don't cry. I'm right here." It was Rocket. Groot calmed down a bit, he was still sniffling. "It was just a bad dream that you had. You're okay, you're good. Dreams are stupid, they scare you and ruin everything." 

Starlord appeared at the door, "Is Groot okay?" Groot's sadness disappeared at the sight of Starlord, they were back!

"Yeah, he's fine. Just a bad dream." 

Groot's arms went toward Starlord's direction, his hands closed and opened, a sign to show that he wanted to go to Starlord. Rocket gave him to Starlord. "How are you, little buddy? Wow, you're growing fast!"

Gamora walked by the door, Groot pointed to her.

"I think he wants Gamora now." Rocket stated.

Starlord called out for Gamora. "Hey, Gammy! Groot wants to see you!" Gamora walked towards them. Starlord gave the pot to Gamora.

"Hello there." Groot's hand grabbed Gamora's finger. It was warm and green.

"That reminds me, we want to give you something, Groot! We tried giving it to you when we came back, but you were sleeping. Follow me, guys." Starlord walked into another room, Gamora followed holding Groot. Starlord opened his bag and took something out, it was a bulby object with a long handle at the end. Starlord shook the object, it made a rattling sound. "It's a rattle! I used to have one of these as a baby."

"So did I," Gamora added. "My parents used to shake it at me and I was so intrigued by the sound of it."

Starlord handed the rattle to Groot. The rattle was brown with hints of a darker and lighter brown. A leaf design went around the bulb. Groot smiled and started to shake it. He loved the sound, it was so fun! He giggled and shook it more.

"You know what would be great with your rattle? Some nice tunes." Starlord went to some contraption with a rectangular hole in the middle. He inserted a rectangle that fit perfectly into the hole. He pressed a button and turned a knob. All of a sudden, a melodic sound was booming throughout the ship. It was first quiet and then gradually became louder, Groot was so fascinated by the sounds, he kept staring at the rectangle contraption. 

Words were suddenly spoken. "I! Don't wanna know your name! 'Cause you don't look the same! The way you did before-or-or-ore!" The words spoken fit in nicely with the sound that was playing in the background.

"Ah. Fox on the Run, Sweet." Starlord said.

"The music does sound sweet," Gamora responded.

"No, I meant Sweet. The band that plays the song."

"The band is sweet?"

"Yes, the band is called Sweet."

"Is the band called sweet because they play very nice?"

Starlord scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess so."

"So what's the band's name?"

"Sweet."

"I asked for the name, not what they are described as."

"They're called Sweet! That's the band name!"

"Why didn't you say that earlier?"

Starlord rolled his eyes. "Aliens..." he mumbled under his breath. Groot laughed at their conversation.

Drax came into the room. "Oh, the tiny tree is now awake. Do you like your rattle?" Groot shook his rattle as a mean to say "yes". "My daughter used to love playing with rattles as a baby. I figured you would like them too." He turned to face Starlord. "More music you're playing?"

"Yeah, it's pretty  **sweet** , dude. Get it? Since the band is called Sweet? Huh, Gamora? Aren't I smart?" 

Gamora rolled her eyes and facepalmed. "You're an idiot."

"The smartest idiot, actually."

"That doesn't make sense. Idiots are stupid, not smart," Drax commented.

Starlord rubbed his eyes. "Aliens..." he mumbled. 

There was a pause in the sound, it lasted for about ten seconds, and a completely new tune started to play. A new voice spoke throughout the nice sound.

"Ooo! I Want You Back by the Jackson 5!" Starlord started to move his hips and offered a hand out to Gamora. "Dance with me! This is a good song!"

Gamora shook her head. "No thanks."

"Drax?"

"I despise dancing. I do not dance, nor will I ever," he responded in such a low, intimidating tone. Peter took back his hand.

Groot thought for a moment,  _What is dancing? Why doesn't Drax like his dancing?_ Groot watched Peter bust out some moves as he walked towards the ladder that led upstairs. Groot thought again,  _Maybe dancing is when you let your body move to the sounds_. Drax doesn't like when people move their bodies to the sounds. Groot kept that little info in his mind.

"I'm gonna go find us a place to eat!" yelled Starlord from above. Gamora made a thumbs up at him and left the room, walking to somewhere else. Drax sat down in a chair near the table that Groot's pot was at. He took out his knives and started to clean them with a cloth. Groot didn't like knives, they were sharp and scary. They could cut his bark and it would hurt very badly.

Groot suddenly paid attention to the words that the person was saying. ~...but someone picked you from the bunch, one glance is all it took...~ The sounds sounded so pleasing, it made Groot want to try this dancing thing. But how did he want to dance? He thought back to the cherry blossom tree, waving. ~Oh baby, give me one more chance! To show you that I love you!~ Groot swayed his hips a little like what Starlord did. ~Won't you please let me, back in your heart.~

~Oh baby, give me one more chance! To show you that I love you!~ Groot swayed his hips a little like what Starlord did. "Won't you please let me, back in your heart"

~Won't you please let me, back in your heart.~ He lifted both of his arms from behind his back and moved them a little to the beat.

~Oh! Darling, I was blind to let you go! Let you go, baby!~ More moving his arms, he felt comfortable doing it.

~But now since I've seen you, it is on!~ Drax looked back at Groot. Groot froze, remembering what Drax said earlier, he didn't like dancing. Groot froze in place as he was looking. He heard the words pass by. ~I want you back! Oh, I do now. I want you back! Ooh, ooh, baby. I want you back! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I want you back! Na, na, na, na.~

He sensed Drax looking back at his knife. Groot started to flail his arms again. He felt such joy, it reminded him of when he was dancing with the cherry blossom tree in his trees. Dancing felt like you were free, in beat with the beautiful sounds and the nice voices. Nobody could stop him from doing so, well, except for Drax.

Groot's hips and arms were moving so carefree. His head was bouncing back and forth. His whole body was in motion with the sound. He wanted to do this forever. But the sound was soon over and then everything was silent. The rectangle box thing made a clicking sound. Groot stared at it in silence. He wanted those nice sounds back, he wanted to hear the voices match the sounds, he wanted to dance again.

A couple of minutes passed. Still no sound. Where was Starlord? Shouldn't he play the sounds again? Groot sighed.

"It seems like the music stopped playing," said Drax, who was putting his knives away back in his pocket. He shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, I don't know how to make it play again, oh well."

Rocket appeared in the room. He quietly scooted to Groot and carried his pot. He probably didn't know Drax was there.

"How are you feeling, today?" asked Drax.

"...fine..." answered Rocket, not sparing any glance at Drax.

"You sure?"

Rocket nodded his head slowly. Drax raised an eyebrow, although he had no visible eyebrows.

"You know if you're not doing well, you can come to me. I know how you feel, we all know how you feel."

Rocket ignored the heavily tattooed man.

"But, if you want to be alone for now, that's fine with me. Do not get too crazy with your thoughts though, it may hurt you. Trust me on this."

Rocket turned to look at Drax. Then he went back to the messy room again with the tiny plant. Drax was out of Groot's sight. Once again, Rocket set the pot down on the floor. He let out a deep sigh and buried his heads into his knees.

Another set of fluttering started inside of Groot again.  _Comfort him._ Groot decided to listen to these thoughts for once, so he pet Rocket's head with his tiny hand. Rocket immediately looked up and froze for a millisecond which kind of scared Groot for a bit. Then the animal relaxed his shoulders and put his head back into his knees.

His fur was soft and warm. It made him comfortable to touch it, he never wanted to stop petting him. Everything felt at ease.

"...I...am...Groot..."


	5. Sights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plants are cool, food is great, crowds are horrible.

"...I...am...Groot..."

Rocket lifted up his head in a fast motion. "Say what now? Groot, did you just speak?"

Groot shook his head. He couldn't speak yet, why would Rocket think he could talk?

"But-you just!"

Groot tilted his head in confusion.

"I swear I heard you talk."

Groot shook his head again.

"What the hell did I just hear then?"

Groot shrugged his shoulders.

"Flark...I think I'm going crazy..." he mumbled. What is a flark?

Starlord knocked on the door and opened it. "Hey you two, I've landed the Milano on a place where we can eat. Wanna join? Sure you guys must be hungry or something." 

Rocket's stomach rumbled, the same happened with Groot's. "Yeah, sure, I guess," he responded. 

"Great! Let's head out!" The three of them walked out of the messy room and out of the spaceship with Gamora and Drax. Once they stepped outside of the ship, Groot could feel Rocket's grip on the pot growing tighter. 

There was a building in front of them, the windows showed that there were also other beings inside. They were eating food. The food looked delicious to other eyes, but to Groot's, he couldn't eat any of it. The five of them went inside of this building and sat down at a table with two long, red seats. Rocket sat on the end where the window was and set Groot down on the table. He held the pot close to him. 

"Can't let go, huh," Starlord said. 

"Shut up," Rocket responded. His grip got tighter.

"I understand. I was like that too when my daughter was an infant." Drax spoke.

A person came by with a brown thing in his head and an ink thing in the other. "What can we do for you guys, today?" he asked. Everybody ordered what they wanted, Groot didn't really pay attention, he was examining some white, soft things that were inside of a metal box. He took one out, and another, and then another after that, maybe two more, or three, or five, or...whatever. He took a lot of the white, soft rectangles out.

"Groot, don't play with napkins!" Rocket stated. Groot didn't listen, he ripped the stuff apart and waves the pieces up and down, watching them float safely to the ground, he laughed and was having a great time. Rocket struggled with putting the not-broken white cloths back in the metal box with the help of Gamora.

"Babies, they love to make a mess," Drax commented.

No matter how much effort all them put into putting those white cloth things away, Groot still took many of them out and ripped them apart. But soon enough, that person that came to their table earlier returned with a silver platter with food on it. The person set the food down near all of them.

"Enjoy your food," the person said afterward. They left to go to another table that hosted another group of beings.

Everybody ate their food, of course, Rocket gave Groot another type of food that they didn't order, it was just right for him. It was pretty silent when they ate, the mood felt a bit tense. What's going on inside of their heads?

Time passed and all of the food disappeared from their plates. Starlord laid back. "Ahhh, it's been a while since I ate food..."

"Good food, not prison food," Rocket added.

"Agreed. Glad we're not living a life of felony." Drax stated. A small pause of silence took place and then they all laughed. Why did they find that so funny? What did felony mean?

"I ain't gonna be a goody-two-shoes to the darn Nova Corps, not my style." Rocket said.

"It is nice to help out once in a while, don't ya think?" Starlord asked.

"I for sure am not gonna kill people for the fun of it. Those days are over." Gamora stated.

"Killing is so fun, though! Sometimes, you just wanna shoot people for the heck of it." Rocket commented.

"I would kill someone if they bothered me. Nobody messes with Drax the Destroyer," said Drax the Destroyer.

"Only kill people IF they annoy you, got it? We don't wanna be shooting innocent lives around here." Gamora ordered, she glared at Rocket.

"Joy-sucker," Rocket responded.

The person that kept coming to their table walked by.

"Hey, uh-check please?" Starlord asked.

The person looked at Starlord. "Oh, you don't need to pay, Guardians. It's on us, thanks for what you did on Xandar. Glad that Ronan is gone for good. You really saved a lot of people you know."

Rocket put his head down. "...not all of them..." he mumbled so quietly.

"Wow, thanks! Glad that I don't need to waste any units here." Starlord responded. All five of them left the eating place, Starlord turned around to face all of them. "Welp! We've been traveling around for some time, let's go explore this planet, shall we? They might have marketplaces here, and they might sell shit- I mean stuff, for free. 'Cause, y'know, we saved the galaxy?" he said.

"Sounds good, I want to go explore anyway," Gamora said.

"Hey, Gammy, uhh...wanna go explore together?" asked Starlord.

"Sure." The two went off and left Drax, Rocket, and Groot by themselves.

Drax faced Rocket. "Are you going to explore, friend?" he asked.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe, so that I can pick up some new materials, but, I can't leave Groot alone," he responded.

"You do know that you can also leave him with me."

Rocket looked at Groot with concern. He shook his head, "Nah, I want to stay with him."

"You should really go explore, you've been in the ship for too long."

Rocket didn't answer.

"Here's an idea, why don't you go around the place with Groot? I'm sure he would want to see the sights of a planet. He hasn't really seen one."

Rocket's grip on Groot's pot got tighter. "I dunno...what if someone hurts him?"

Drax touched Rocket's shoulder which made him wince. "I'll go with you, then. I'll be your bodyguard."

Rocket smirked at Drax, "Thanks."

And so, the three went to explore whatever the planet had to offer them. They went to a place where a lot of people were walking around, pointing at stuff, and talking to people. A lot of small stands were up and the people behind them were shouting about something.

"Buy this over here! This is on sale today! Special offer! 0% off...I mean 100%...I mean 50%!"

The place was loud and crowded, it made Groot feel a little uncomfortable, he was so tiny and everyone had the potential to squish him or take him out of his pot. He was a bit scared and he couldn't see anything except for legs.

Drax stayed in front of the two, Rocket struggled to follow along.

"It would be easier if Groot were here..." mumbled Rocket. But Groot was right here! Right in front of him! Could he not see?

The three saw stuff on the stands, there were many items on them. Some were colorful, some looked weird, some looked plain, and some looked disgusting. Groot stuck out his tongue.

"Marketplaces are crowded, I don't like when there's a lot of people...makes me nervous..." Rocket said. Rocket stopped in his tracks and looked around. "Wait...where the hell did Drax go?"

Drax was missing from their sights, he wasn't anywhere to be seen, only a bunch of legs and hands were in their vision.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap! Groot! We lost him!"

It felt like more and more people were walking towards them. Groot was worried, where was Drax? Did he leave them? Groot turned to Rocket, his face was filled with nervousness, fear, and stress. 

"Where did he go??"

More people's legs came into place, Rocket tried to get out of the middle of the bustle. One of them bumped into the furry creature, almost making him fall.

"Watch it, animal!" the person yelled. Groot started to hate that person.

"Go flark off!" Rocket yelled back. Another person bumped into them.

"Move, filthy vermin!"

And then another.

"I'm trying to walk, creature!"

Groot could hear Rocket starting to breathe harder. He scrambled to get out of people's way. There were just too much, too much noise, too much clutter, too much chaos. Too much closing in, too little space, too many big things in the way. Groot started to get scared, he grabbed onto Rocket's arm.

Finally, Rocket found an opening and walked through it. He ran to a nearby object and hid behind it. Both of them breathed in relief.

"Never...again..." Rocket tried to say in between breaths. "I thought someone was gonna knock you over...glad we got out of there." Rocket rested his head on Groot's pot. Groot rested his body on Rocket's soft head. He felt at ease, and then...he started to sleep.

* * *

Black, everything was black. There was nothing else in the blackness, only black.

Groot remembered that something happened to the white place, the patch of green grass, and the cherry blossom tree. They all got sucked in...including that orange glowing spot.

The black was so black that Groot couldn't see. He wished there was some sort of light, he loved light. He sat down on the black floor (surprisingly, there was a floor), and looked around. Nothing, only black and a....orange color for some reason??

Groot looked around again, where was this orange color coming from? He looked down at the black floor, he was sitting on an orange glowing spot. Just like the one on the trunk of the cherry blossom tree. He laid down on the orange spot, it was warm...and comfortable...and it made you feel happy. It made you feel safe. Imagine being on top of a really fluffy pillow, that's how it felt like, except better. He wanted to be on top of this spot forever.

In the distance, Groot heard a voice. A deep voice, a strong voice. "Rocket!" it shouted. "Rocket, wake up!"

* * *

Groot lifted his head up and so did Rocket. He tried to find the source of where the voice was coming from, he looked to his right, there was Drax.

"I lost you two in the crowd, you suddenly disappeared," Drax said.

"We disappeared?! You disappeared from us! People were about to step on us!" Rocket shouted back.

"Well, when I looked back, you guys were gone! I couldn't find you after that!"

"We were being pushed around! You didn't look hard enough!"

Drax sighed, "Next time, let's not go to a crowded marketplace full of stupid people."

"Agreed. Wait...how'd you find us?"

"I heard people say 'stupid ver-', excuse me, 'some animal' when I was trying to look for both of you. It eventually led me to see animal tracks, then I spotted you sleeping. You both looked at ease, I did not want to bother you, but, Quill must be waiting for us."

"Oh." Rocket got up from his spot.

"We should be heading back now."

The three walked back to their spaceship. Starlord and Gamora were already there.

Starlord held up a thick rectangle with a design. "Look what I scored? A deck of cards! We can play poker or whatever card game you guys play." He had a proud grin on his face.

"Ooo, love me some gambling." Rocket smiled.

"You're a strange raccoon, aren't you," Starlord responded.

"Don't use that word!" Rocket angrily said through his teeth.

"Whoops."

They all headed back inside of the spaceship.


	6. Books

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora reads Groot a book that she kept hidden from everyone else.   
> Also, don't play rough card games with dangerous people.

Starlord put cards down on the table. There were piles of four, one for each of them.

"Have you ever heard of the game 'Egyptian Ratscrew'?" Starlord asked all of them.

"I don't think so..." Rocket answered.

"Does it involve a rat going down a screw? Rocket would be the perfect candidate," Drax said. Rocket lifted his middle finger at him.

"As much as I would like it to, no. It's a game about slapping cards," Starlord said.

Gamora folded her hands. "I'm interested in how it sounds..."

"Great. So we each take turns to put down one card, we go in order. If there's a double, you slap. If there's a sandwich, example 5-7-5 or 3-8-3, you slap. If there's a king and a queen together, you slap. If there's a ten, you slap."

"Wait, who do I slap?" Drax asked.

"The cards, don't slap us." Starlord sighed and continued. "Alright, here's the tricky part. If someone before you puts down a Jack, you put down one card. The card has to be one of the royals - Jack, Queen, King, or Ace. If someone puts down a queen, you put down two cards. King is three cards and Ace is four cards."

"I'm confused," Gamora stated.

Starlord sighed again. "It will make more sense once we start."

And thus, the four of them played the card game. Groot watched them all place cards down and slap each other's hands to win the cards. It was pretty chaotic.

"OW! YOU DOOFUS YOU SLAPPED ME!" cried Starlord.

"Then don't take the cards, duh," Drax smirked.

This happened several times. All their hands hurt, except for Drax and Gamora. They weren't bothered. Starlord and Rocket held up their hands in pain.

"I....I think that's enough...." stuttered Starlord.

"We....we can't give up yet....we haven't run out of our cards yet..." Rocket added.

The game continued. By the end of it, Rocket and Starlord were laying down on the floor, soothing their sore hands. Gamora flipped her hair, turns out she won the game.

Drax slammed the table. "My reflexes weren't fast enough. I have to train more." He got up from his seat and went somewhere else.

"N-note to self...don't play with the strongest people in the galaxy..." Starlord weakly said.

"A-agreed..." Rocket attempted to put a thumbs up.

"That was too easy. Maybe we could play again tomorrow." Gamora smirked at the two suffering guys on the floor and winked at Groot. Groot giggled. "I'm taking him with me, he would like to hang out with a winner instead of two idiots with poor hands." She picked Groot's pot and went to her room. The two boys were out of Groot's sight. Gamora set him down on a small little corner table she had next to her bed. She sat on her bed right next to him.

Gamora set him down on a small little corner table she had next to her bed. She sat on her bed right next to him.

"How are you feeling?" She asked. 

Groot couldn't speak yet, but he put a thumbs up as a sign to say "I'm good." 

Gamora chuckled, "That's good. Glad you are doing well." She took out a book from under her bed. "You've spent too much time near these idiots, I don't want you to grow up dumb like them. So how about we read together?"

Groot nodded his head.

"I always loved reading, it's a little secret of mine. You can't tell anyone about this, though."

Groot tilted his head in confusion. Why did she keep her love of books a secret?

"It's just a little insecurity I have....nothing much..."

Groot still didn't understand but went along with her answer anyway. Gamora turned to the first page of the book she was holding.

"I had this book since I was a child, it was a gift I obtained from my mother and father. They knew I loved books, so they gave me one for my birthday. It has always been my favorite story ever since." She looked down at the book with a small smile, but this wasn't any happy smile. It looked sad. Why was Gamora sad about getting a book that she loves?

Groot touched her arm. Gamora pet his small cheek. She started to read the book.

"On a distant planet lived a girl, she was in a field fetching flowers for her sick mother. It was her birthday." She flipped the page. "The girl knew that her mother's favorite flower was the white armoranath. It was a special armoranath flower, the rarest color. She wanted to find that one for her mother." Another page flip.

"The field of flowers contained many pink, blue, red, and purple flowers, but none of them were white. The girl was determined to find this rare colored flower, even if it took months or days, or possibly years, she would continue to find it. She will never give up." Page flip. "She searched far and wide in this giant field of armoranaths, but still, no white flower could be seen. The day was about to end. The giant, round moon was about to come up and bring the black sky full of stars with it. The sun was saying it's goodbye before going to sleep by showing a nice orange color in the sky. The girl had no time to think about the sky, she had to look for the flower."

"It was harder to search in the night, but the girl forced her eyes to look. She was getting sleepy, it was almost time for bed. She could not sleep right now, she had to search." Page flip. "It was almost day again, the sun was waking up from its nap. The black sky was disappearing. The light from the sun helped the girl see better. She started to look faster." Yet, another page flip. "Who knows how many days passed. The girl still hasn't found the flower. She hadn't returned home ever since. But, she was never going to give up, all though, a bit of hope was lost inside of her."

"After many days of searching and almost giving up, the girl finally found the flower. It was a tiny little sprout under the tree in between a pink armoranath and a red armoranath. She grabbed the pot she had beside her the whole time, put some soil in it, and then potted the rare, white armoranath. She ran quickly home back to her sick mother." Gamora flipped the page. "When the girl returned to her home, there was nobody there. She checked the bedroom where her mother sleeps, and thank the stars, she was sleeping in bed. The girl tried to wake up her mother, but she wasn't waking up. The girl placed the beautiful, white armoranath in her mother's arms." Gamora closed the book and sighed. "End of story."

Groot looked at Gamora.

"It's a sad story, but it's one of my favorites. Never give up, keep trying to succeed your goal, and even though nothing happened when you've completed it, at least you feel accomplished in something." Gamora stared into the distance and then looked back at Groot. "Do you want to go back to Rocket?"

Groot yawned and nodded his head very sleepily.

"You must be tired." Gamora picked up Groot's pot from the table, she walked to the main room where Starlord and Rocket were before. Both of them weren't there, so Gamora went to check Rocket's room instead. He was doing the connecting-one-thingamabob-to-the-other like always. Gamora set Groot's pot down on the floor right next to him. "I read him a story. I think he likes to listen to stories."

"Wow, just like him," Rocket responded. He turned on Groot's solar light and fed him some plant food.

"How's your hand?" she asked.

"Still hurts like hell," he smiled. "Quill's hand is still suffering also, he got trouble controlling the damn ship."

Gamora walked towards the door. "Ha, guess I'm too strong for you boys." She left the room and was out of Groot's sight.

Rocket turned to Groot, who was just about to fall asleep. "Had fun, little guy?"

Groot rubbed his eyes and nodded his head.

"Heh, good night, Groot." Rocket patted his head and Groot closed his eyes.

Groot wanted to grow a flower like the armoranath. Maybe when he gets bigger, he'll grow a flower just as beautiful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Egyptian Ratscrew is such a fun game, you guys should play it. I'm a pretty expert player myself.


	7. Voice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rumor Come Out: Does Groot Talk is Work?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, sorry if this chapter came out super late. I lost motivation to write and ran out of ideas to put what's next (I should be more organized, my life's a mess), but here it is! Enjoy!

Black emptiness, orange spot, that was all for right now. The white place with the cherry blossom tree may be gone forever. Groot was sad that the tree disappeared, but at least he had the comfortable orange spot. He was good.

* _tip tip tip_ * Groot heard footsteps in the distance. He got up quickly and tried to see who was walking towards him.

* _tip tip tip_ * The walking got closer and closer. As the sound was becoming louder, Groot's eyes finally revealed someone in a white hooded cloth, everytime this white-clothed person took a step, a patch of green grass and flowers appeared.

"We meet again." The white hooded figure said. His voice was deep and he was pretty tall. "How is everything?"

Groot still didn't know how to speak properly yet. He put a thumbs up instead.

"Oops, I forgot you aren't grown enough to use your voice correctly. Sorry about that. Maybe sometime soon, you will. The others will be glad to hear it. Especially  _him_. _He's_ been waiting." Who is this person? And who's is this " _he"_ person? It was all so very strange.

Groot wanted to ask many questions to the hooded figure. He felt like he's seen him before, perhaps in another dream, but he couldn't quite remember.

"So, do you like the new place? It's pretty dark and empty. Sorry about that. Sometimes things change, but new things will grow." The hooded figure knelt down to the ground and sprouted a flower. Groot wanted to sprout flower. So he knelt down and tried to do the same action that the hooded figure did. The hooded figure laughed, "Haha! You're not grown yet! Sorry about that!"

Why did this guy keep saying "sorry about that?" It was so strange. Who was this person??

"Well, it's almost time to go, sorry about that." He said it again! "Anyway, I will see you another time. Enjoy your new life, the galaxy is full of amazing wonders, some are good, some are bad. Sorry about that." And again. "Enjoy your new friends and family, too. They'll always be with you. Especially  _him_. Make sure you always support one another and enjoy your time together because one day, it all disappears into nothingness." Groot saw a tear run down near the hooded figure's mouth. The hooded figure quickly wiped his eyes revealing his hand. His hand was brown and barky. Strange. "Sorry about that. You have to go soon. Give me your hand."

Groot obeyed his orders and put his hand in front of the hooded figure's. The hooded figure touched it and everything blew away.

* * *

Groot coughed when he woke up. What a strange dream!

Rocket quickly went to Groot's side. "Ah! Are you okay?!" His tone was filled with worry. Groot put a thumbs up to let him know that he was alright. Rocket wiped his forehead, "Phew, I thought somethin' bad was happening to you. Don't scare me like that."

Groot thought about the white hooded figure in his dream. Who was that person? Why did he keep saying "sorry about that"?

Rocket snapped his fingers. "Aha! I got it! I studied your growth pattern!" 

Groot got excited.

"Every time you sleep, you grow more, so, the longer you sleep, the more you grow! Also...I think Quill said that if you give someone a lot of love and affection, they grow really big or somethin'. I dunno. He got that from a book about some red dog. Pretty weird. Dogs are weird."

Groot put his arms out to Rocket as a sign to give him love and affection. He wanted to grow big so that he can grow an armoranath for everyone, especially Gamora. He also wanted to walk and talk like everybody else.

"Why are you putting your arms out?"

Groot put his arms out again and made his hands do a grabby motion. Rocket was still confused. Groot got frustrated. He put his arms out again and made a pouty face.

"I don't understand..."

Groot clapped his hands and put his arms out again. Rocket stayed there in silence. Groot sighed, instead he hugged himself first and put his arms out towards Rocket again.

"Oh...a hug." Rocket scooted over to Groot awkwardly. "Eh, I'm not good at hugs." 

Groot made a puppy face at him.

Rocket sighed, "Oh, alright, fine." Rocket leaned towards Groot to give him a nice, small hug. Rocket's fur was so warm and soft, Groot held onto his neck longer and felt the fuzziness of Rocket's coat. He let his head lay down on it, he felt happy and safe.

He felt like falling asleep again.

* * *

This time, the black emptiness was mostly orange now. It was so warm and so comfy. Groot laid down on it, sprawling out his arms and legs. He laughed and rolled around. It was the best feeling ever.

He heard a voice in the distance. "Groot! Groot! Let go!"

* * *

Groot woke up.

"Gr-Groot, let go! You're choking me..." Rocket said. Groot noticed how strong his grip was and he quickly let go. Rocket quickly took a step back against the wall and felt his neck. He breathed in relief, "You...you really hugged me tightly, huh. D-don't do that again, alright?"

Groot got nervous. Oh no! Did he do something wrong again? Tears started to form in his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't cry! It's not your fault! You're a baby. You probably didn't know..." He kept soothing his neck. Groot probably hugged him really hard. Groot wanted to say he was sorry, but the lack of a developed throat was stopping him from doing so. Rocket patted Groot's head, "Sorry...it's just that-"

Starlord came in through the door. "Hey, I'm calling a- woah. What happened to you two?" He asked.

Rocket picked up Groot's pot. "Eheh, nothing! We're good, it's all fine..."

"Uh, okay. I'm calling a meeting, you guys should come out now." Starlord left, Rocket followed behind him.

Drax and Gamora were already at the table. Rocket put Groot's pot down right next to Gamora.

"Alright, so we're basically called heroes. And being called heroes means that people would want us to save the day, right?" asked Starlord.

Silence.

He sighed and continued, "Which means that people all over the galaxy would want us to do their errands or what not."

"Why can't they do it themselves? We got other matters to attend to." Rocket objected.

"I agree with Rocket," added Drax.

"But maybe people can't have the abilities like we do and they need some saving. Like when we saved the entirety of Xandar from a crazy Kree guy with an infinity stone? The point is, now that we're famous, we have a job to do. People from all over the galaxy will be asking us to do their shit for them."

Gamora nodded her head, "Sounds fair."

"When did we agree to do hero work?" Rocket asked. "Are we good guys now? I don't remember signing up for this."

"There was no contract for us to sign," Drax responded. 

Starlord pinched the bridge of his nose. "...aliens..." he mumbled. "Look, we're heroes now, that's what we've come to. We got people and planets to save. Don't question it, that's what it is now. The Nova Corps cleaned our criminal records so we won't be going to jail anytime soon unless somebody does something stupid. So expect us traveling to a lot of places and so."

Gamora got up from her chair. "Is this meeting done now?"

"Not yet. We have a mission to do. The Nova Corps is asking us to infiltrate somebody's base. According to them, they've been stealing shit from different planets and using it for their own good. They don't know where their base is at, but they think they've got an idea of their whereabouts."

Rocket whispered to Groot, "I still don't remember when I signed up to be a hero." Rocket raised his hand, "Question, do we get paid?"

"Yeah, a lot actually."

"Explain."

"Five hundred thousand units."

"Alright, now I've signed up."

Gamora raised her hand, "Quill, before you go on, we have a problem." She pointed at Groot. "Groot's not developed enough to go on missions like these. They might be too dangerous."

"Crap, you're right." Starlord scratched his head.

"Maybe Rocket should stay behind and take care of the plant?" suggested Drax.

"No, he's valuable. We need him." Gamora said.

Rocket blushed, "Wow, thanks for the compliment, Gammy..."

"None of us can stay behind. We're all important to the team." Starlord said.

"Wait, we're officially a team?" 

"There's only one solution to this problem. Rocket, you gotta bring Groot on missions."

Groot could feel Rocket's grip on his pot getting tight. "No, it's too risky!"

"Please, it's the only way! We can't leave him by himself on the ship, that's even riskier!"

Rocket stayed silent. He whispered very silently, "I can't lose him again..."

Everyone on the ship stayed silent. They were out of ideas, Groot got frustrated. If only he could walk! He could've been stronger to do his own thing and no one would have to worry! He wanted to talk so that he could tell everyone that it would be okay, he could be strong enough!

Groot turned to Rocket and touched his nose.

Rocket looked at him, "What's wrong?"

Groot smiled and put a thumbs up. He hoped that his hand messages would get them to understand.

Rocket looked at him with a confused face, but then his eyes widened as if a lightbulb appeared above his head. "You sure you wanna go? You sure that your body is okay for this?"

Groot nodded his head in confidence. He could do it!

Rocket stood up from his chair. "Guys, Groot says that he's developed enough to go on missions, I hope."

"How can you still understand him? He cannot even speak yet," asked Drax.

"I dunno. It's a special trait I guess?"

Starlord cleared his throat and smiled with determination. "Alright, so it's settled. The Guardians of the Galaxy, now officially doing hero work for others! Go team!" He put a fist in the air.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

* * *

The ship landed somewhere, it was dark outside, there were many buildings around them. Groot's pot was strapped to Rocket's chest, the straps were secure enough so that he wouldn't slip out by accident.

Starlord snickered, "Haha! You look like a mother carrying her newborn child around!"

"And you look like someone who's head is about to be blown to bits!" Rocket growled.

Gamora stepped in between them, "Stop fighting. Let's keep going."

The five, well four, of them walked to hide behind one of the buildings.

"If you see any suspicious activity, that's probably where we need to go," whispered Starlord.

"More like, we should probably split up and investigate," responded Rocket.

"Uh, yeah, good idea. I dunno if you guys wanna do pairs or not."

"I'd rather go by myself," Gamora said.

"I agree with Gamora," added Drax.

Rocket took two things out of his pocket. "I made some transmitters, we use it to communicate with each other." Rocket gave the things to Gamora and Drax. Why didn't he give one to Starlord?

"Great, let's bounce," Starlord walked away and so did everyone else. Groot, of course, stayed with Rocket.

The sky above them was black with a few white dots scattered around. A lot of tall buildings surrounded them and they illuminated a lot of lights. Groot heard Rocket sniffing. What were they looking for in the first place?

"Y'know, I still don't remember signing up to be a hero. When did I ever agree to do this," Rocket said.

Something fluttered in Groot's stomach.  _You signed up once I stood up, silly_. The fluttering was back again and did it just respond to Rocket's question?

"But...saving Xandar and a million people...kind of felt pretty nice? I guess? It felt kind of strange. I always feel proud of myself for being hella smart, but having people saying thank you for saving them? It feels different and I'm not hated by the Nova Corps for once, which is weird....you don't know what I'm talking about, right."

Groot shook his head. What is a Xandar?

Rocket's ears flicked. "I hear something." He quickly ran behind an object and looked up at the area in front of them. He sniffed everything and looked left and right. Groot was completely confused on what Rocket was currently doing. "Strange, two people sneakily putting boxes through the door, they seem to be hasty. Suspicious."

Something beeped in Rocket's pocket. "I found something," the pocket stated. Rocket took a thing out of his pocket, it looked similar to the stuff that Rocket gave Gamora and Drax. "Two people are bringing in boxes from a small ship into a building. On closer inspection, those boxes seem to be labeled with different languages." The voice sounded like Starlord.

Rocket spoke into the thing, "I see it too. These dudes are wearing masks."

Another voice was heard from the thing, "Which building?" It sounded like Gamora.

"3219."

The thing beeped again. Rocket ran to another place to hide. Gamora suddenly appeared from the sky and landed on her feet right next to Rocket.

Gamora spoke into the thing, "Quill, Drax, where are you?"

"I'm on the left side of the building, Drax is with me too." The Starlord voice said.

"Rocket and I are on the right side. I saw an opening on the top. We can barge in through there. Meet you there." The thing beeped again. Groot didn't like the sound of that beep.

Rocket and Gamora made their way to the building that was to the right of them, they kept looking around. A ladder was on the side and they climbed up. Starlord and Drax were there.

The five of them came close to a door, there were a lock and chain around the handles. Rocket took out a gun and shot it.

"Blam," he whispered.

"Dude! Too loud!" Starlord quietly shouted.

"Whoops."

They all went through the door and ran down the stairs. Groot was still confused as to what was currently happening right now. What were they doing? Why were they hiding behind stuff and talking into things? Why did Rocket shoot a lock? Why are they running down the stairs?

The five ended up in a hallway with a bunch of doors.

"Which one is it?" asked Drax.

"I dunno," Starlord responded.

A rolling sound was heard from the other side of the hallway, but it was too dark to see what was causing the sound. The rolling sound got louder and some voices were heard as well.

"Put these in the rocket room and I'll put these boxes into the explosive room," one voice said.

"What about this one?" another voice asked.

"Ehhh....I don't know. I can't read that language. Maybe Boss knows. Ask him." And then the voices disappeared.

Rocket quickly turned to Starlord, "I wanna check the explosive room!" He got all excited.

"Alright, calm your horses. We have to first get rid of these guys." Starlord looked at everyone, "Whose good at-"

Gamora killed two people with her sword before Starlord could ask his question.

"Wow. Okay then! Alright, let's go che-"

Rocket already ran to another room before Starlord could finish his sentence. The two ended up in a dark room with a bunch of spider webs everywhere. Ew. Rocket looked for a light switch and flicked it up. The bright lights revealed many black boxes with a bunch of labels on them.

Rocket opened one of them, "Ooooo, Groot! We hit the jackpot! Look at these beauties!" Rocket put some stuff into a bag that he carried. "Trick is, ya gotta see which ones are just for you. Only bring back the really good stuff. That's the rule I follow."

Groot was completely confused, but he went along with it anyway. Rocket scrambled through more boxes and put more things into his bag.

"Alright, I'm good! Let's go check the other rooms." But before they headed out the room, there were two guys blocking the door. They were light blue and had a weirdly shaped head. The top of their heads was brown, Groot was disgusted by it.

"What's a little vermin like you doin' here? We have a no animal policy in this building," One of them said as he was cracking his knuckles.

"Aw look, Thiy! He's got a little stick with him!" The other man laughed.

Rocket untied Groot from his chest and set his pot down on the floor.

"C'mon, little guy. Let's get you back to the zoo or some shit." The two guys walked closer to Rocket. Groot got scared, they're gonna hurt him and take him away!

Rocket sighed and took out his gun, it expanded and he shot both of them without breaking a sweat. The two guys were zapped by the electric lasers from his gun. "Wow, I can't believe I wasted some precious ammo on you meatheads." Rocket picked up Groot. "What a waste," he stated. Rocket put his gun back on his back and they headed out the room. On the floor, Groot saw the brown part of their heads fall off, the two guys were now bald. Heads are weird.

In the hallway, a sound was blaring and there were red lights flashing everywhere. Everything became so chaotic! Groot covered his ears and closed his eyes as tight as he could, he wanted it all to stop. The light wasn't in his eyes anymore, but he could still hear the awful sound. He squeezed the sides of his head hard, he wished he could go back to the ship.

Then all of a sudden, the loud sound was gone. Groot slowly uncovered his eyes and ears. He saw a bunch of guys tied up and another group of people standing next to them. The other group of people next to the tied up guys had gray helmets on with a red star symbol on them. They were wearing blue outfits with the same red star on the side of their shoulders. On their chest were three yellow dots connected by a yellow line.

"Thank you for your service, Guardians. We knew you guys could do it," one of the helmet people said.

"Eh, no problem! Glad to help. This job was easy anyway," Starlord responded.

Rocket went toward the helmet guy, "Now pay up!"

"Uh, sure. Here." The helmet guy handed Rocket a bag. Rocket opened the bag and made a big smile at it. "We can do the rest. Thank you for your service, again," the helmet guy nodded.

"If you ever need us, we're glad to help." Starlord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot headed out of the building back to the ship.

* * *

Back at the ship, Rocket giggled to himself as he looked at the pile of metal stuff in front of him. "Groot, look at all of this! We're rich and I got a few things of my own! I like this hero stuff, we should do it more often!" 

"I can't believe you took some of the weapons..." Gamora sighed.

"Hehehe, why not? Nobody else is gonna use it, I need it more than they do!"

Starlord also giggled to himself. "Five hundred thousand units! This is amazing! I've never felt so rich before!"

"Why couldn't the Nova Corps do the job themselves? They are capable of doing it," Drax stated.

"Who cares about the Nova Corps! Look at all of this stuff!" Rocket smiled happily that it made Groot smile too.

Gamora was cleaning her sword, "To be fair, it was pretty fun. I got to kill some guys that weren't for the purpose of Ronan or Thanos."

"Hm, you make a good point." Drax looked at Rocket. "What are you gonna use that stuff for?"

"Make somethin' better. I could make a better weapon or stuff like that. What do you guys suggest?" asked Rocket.

"I dunno," answered Starlord.

"I don't know either," Gamora added.

"I'll figure it out later then." Rocket stood up from the floor and picked up Groot's pot. "Welp, Groot's gotta take his nap and I gotta do some thinking." He picked up his bag of stuff and walked to his room. He set Groot down on the floor and poured out the bag of stuff. "What should I make, little guy?"

Groot thought for a moment. What should Rocket make? Maybe, he could make a flower! An armoranath like in Gamora's book! Groot tried to make a flower shape with his hands, he tried drawing a flower in the air.

"Uh...what?"

Groot got frustrated, it was hard to have no voice yet! He tried to make hand symbols, eventually, he gave up. Rocket probably didn't know how to grow a flower in the first place.

"Oh, alright." Rocket sat down next to him. "How about a...what about a...um....ah, I can't think." He lay down on the floor and stared at the ceiling. "I usually have somethin' up my sleeve, but my brain is completely empty. Usually, I have someone that says 'make something you wanna make' and I'm usually like, 'okay' and so I ma- wait a second." Rocket sat back up and scrambled through the pile of stuff in a hurry. "What about a- a- a!" More stuff formed on the floor around Groot, he was confused. "What about a spacesuit! Or a jetpack! Or even more guns! More bombs! Hehehe, it's gonna be so cool! All this stuff is from different planets which mean different technology from all over the place, I can make a bunch of cool things!" Rocket giggled to himself again. "Groot, we're in a team now, I bet two-thirds of them don't know how to make shit, I will do it." Rocket froze in his place. "I'm in a team now...a team...not a partnership...but a team..." Rocket looked at two things in his hand. "I'm gonna make a spacesuit. One that's not heavy, like, a spacesuit you can put on with just the push of a button. Don't want another 'evil-sister-blows-up-your-pod-and-leaves-you-stranded-in-space-while-taking-an-infinity-stone-so-the-human's-gotta-sacrifice-his-life-so-you-can-breathe-again-but-then-the-Ravagers-show-up' business'." He took a deep inhale and started to put things together with a tool in his hand.

Groot was massively lost with what Rocket just said, but he eventually ignored it and focused on what Rocket was doing. Rocket was building stuff so quickly that Groot couldn't even examine the process of the "spacesuit".

The fluttering started again,  _Look at his face. He looks so happy._ Groot nodded in agreement, he was very happy, he'd never seen him this way. The excitement in his eyes, a big smile that he's trying to hide, shaky hands. The fluttering spoke again,  _It's been a long time since he's been like this, he's happy again, that's a rare scene._  

Rocket looked at Groot, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Groot's mouth suddenly opened and a sound came out, "I am Groot."

Rocket's eyes went wide. "Did you just-?!" 

"I am Groot?"

"Groot! You-!"

"I am Groot?!"

"Yeah!"

"I am Groot!" He raised his arms in the air.

"Groot, you talked! You actually talked! I-I'm-" Tears started to fall out of his eyes.

"I am Groot??"

"No-no, I'm not sad! It's just...I h-haven't heard those words in such a long time I..." He tried to wipe the tears off of his face, but they just kept coming down from his eyes.

"I am Groot?"

"Yeah...I'm alright."

A huge smile formed on Groot's face. Somehow, he learned to talk, finally! Took a while. Now he can finally speak to the others, especially Rocket. He was excited, proud, and as joyful as he could be. He wanted to talk again to Rocket.

"I am Groot?" he asked.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I am Groot!!"

"Me too, buddy, me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to improve my writing...  
> I tried to rush this as fast as possible, sorry if it's sloppy.


End file.
